Thursday's Health Winners & Losers

Updated from 2:16 p.m. EDT

Health stocks flagged and analysts adjusted their ratings and target prices for companies such as Forest Laboratories(FRX) on Thursday.

Prudential changed its price target for Forest from $58 to $60, while RBC Capital Markets changed its price target from $55 to $56. Despite the raised targets, the stock closed down 56 cents, or 1.1%, to $52.44.

NitroMed(NTMD) slumped 65 cents, or 19.9%, to $2.62 after the company announced that it agreed to sell around 7.6 million shares of common stock to selected institutional investors at $2.60 a share. It will use the proceeds, nearly $18.3 million, for corporate purposes surrounding its product BiDil, which is used to treat heart failure in addition to standard therapy in self-identified black patients, as well as for the development of an extended-release rendition of the drug, BiDil XR.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical(BMRN) was also down 28 cents, or 1.5%, to $18.11, after the company announced it submitted a new-drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Kuvan for the treatment of the genetic disorder phenylketonuria. According to BioMarin, Merck Serono, its partner in development, intends to file a marketing authorization application for Kuvan with the European Medicines Agency in the third quarter of this year.

The Nasdaq Bioptechnology Index, which includes Nitromed and BioMarin, was down 11.16, or 1.3%, to 823.63.